I'm an Auntie.... again!

Welcome Aria Skye, born October 21, 7lbs 7oz 21.5 in.

 

I'm now the very proud auntie to the two most beautiful baby girls in the whole entire world... Charlotte Jane is now almost 9 months old and Baby Aria is almost 4 weeks! So so proud of these little girls and am so excited to get to be a part of their lives and get to watch them grow :)  

 I'm so aching to hold and cuddle my beautiful newest little niece, little miss Aria, but haven't been able to yet! That's what living across the country does to you :(  But, in two weeks, I will be there to {finally} hold and cuddle this perfect baby and I am beyond excited!!! Welcome to the world, Aria Skye! Your auntie Staci loves you and is coming soon to give you lots of kisses and cuddles <3

#2 (and lots of pictures!)

Impending arrival of niece #2 due any day now? Absolutely.

Evidently my ability to post on this blog is most aided by the expectation of arrival by newborn nieces. After all, it's a pretty grand and epic event. It was in February for Miss Charlotte's arrival and it will be again now in October for little Miss Aria's arrival! This family of mine is seriously blessed. We are blessed big time! Not just one little baby, but two! Is it just me or do things always seem to come in two's? Let's see... I have 2 older sisters, 2 younger sisters, 2 black labs in addition to 2 dogs belonging to sisters, 2 brother-in-laws.... hmm, what else? oh yes, 2 parents, and of course, 2 nieces! So many two's! I love all those two's though :)  Slightly ironic that even my number in volleyball (my very short and not very long-lived sports endeavor) was a 2?

On other notes of interest, I am loving spending my days with the most precious seven month old Charlotte! I love her so much! Even when she pees on me (literally. why there was an absence of a diaper in this case completely escapes me). And dumps the can of ginger ale all over me and herself as we are sitting on an airplane and we are then soaked for the remainder of the flight. Those situations turn into the greatest memories though... I can't wait to tell her all these stories when she's all grown up and big :)

Speaking of "all grown up and big", I'm fairly certain that definitely describes two certain previously "little" girls who are now in the third grade and are getting super tall. It's so crazy how big they are but I couldn't possibly be more proud of them. They're amazing and I love my Sarah and Chayah so much!

They're 8 and 10 years old now. So grown up!

Ahhh, all my girls together! We just need Baby Aria to join them now!

Sarah the Artist, hard at work.

Chayah is such a good helper! She takes care of Charlotte so well

Charlotte Jane, 7 months old

So blessed to be her auntie! I love this baby sooo much!!

Hanging out with these girls is my favorite. Also, Cabelas is a pretty fun store.

On the tram tour at the zoo! Great memories :)

The cutest little chicken, cow, and pig I've ever seen! :)

hi baby.

 hello beautiful. isn't my niece the prettiest baby? I am so in love with her. her precious smiles completely melt my heart and her little squeaks are so adorable {yes, I just said the baby squeaks.. I'm not sure why, but it sure is cute! she sounds like a little mouse} ...getting her dressed in beyond fun. even changing her diaper is fun {usually. although she does have this habit of deciding to pee the second the diaper comes off. that is sooo awesome. haha} she is seriously perfect though. sure, she doesn't sleep through the night. in fact, she is quite the little night owl. once midnight hits, it's charlotte's party time and bed doesn't come for another 2-3 hours after. but hey, hanging out with this cute baby through the middle of the night can also be quite fun, so no worries there either. she is easy going and overall, very quiet. her hair is the best. it has grown so much since she was born {I'm convinced it has anyway. I was looking through her "old" pictures...I definitely think it is now longer} she is getting bigger and stronger everyday. she fits into newborn clothes and diapers perfectly. they used to sort of swallow her whole, and I haven't thought of them as swallowing her for a few days now, so she must be growing. she has her two week check up at the pediatricians tomorrow... the little two week old baby that she is :) happy two weeks, charlotte jane! your auntie staci loves you so much and is loving watching you grow! and to my sarah and chayah back at home in the north, your sister staci adores you and can't wait to see you and wants you to hang out with you every. single. day. i miss you both beyond a ton and want you to come see me soon {tell mom and dad, girls!} also. I want to go to the beach. come visit and we will all go and it will be so incredibly much fun in beautiful warm southern weather!

oh, and the new blog layout? I was bored this afternoon with the lack of visitors at the house, no homework, and a sleeping baby... I'm pretty thrilled with it though and feel like my boredom turned out to be quite productive today :)

Welcome Baby Girl!

Meet Charlotte Jane!

 

 

 

Born Sunday, February 26, 2012 at 6:23 am

6 lbs, 10 oz, 20 inches

Proud new Mommy and Daddy!

Charlotte and I, her favorite Auntie Staci... I love her so much! I am so happy to be here with my baby Charlotte!

So pretty all dressed with a bow in my hair :)

Beautiful baby Charlotte! So in love with her! Thank you Jesus for this baby!!

For this child I have prayed and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him. 1 Samuel 1:27

Much Needed Update

It has been way too long since I have posted! Way too long since I've updated about the two most amazing little girls in the entire world, my Sarah and Chayah. Seriously, it has been months since I have posted and even then, no real update, just the occasional picture or two. I'm going to attempt to change that right now... we'll see how it goes..
I have been away from home for the past few months (since July actually, but have been home again for several months since then)... I am missing my girls terribly and miss being able to see them everyday. I miss "talking" to Sarah when she's watching tv or playing on the computer and getting half responses that possibly will or will not make any sense because she's actually not paying very much attention to you (no worries though, Sarah, you are perfect just the way you are and I love and miss your not paying attention to me ways) and I miss Chayah's ramen noodle cravings, love of "Chestnut" (a movie about little girls and their dog), and coming into my room and waking me up way before I want to actually wake up (you are also perfect just the way you are, Chay!)... I miss my girls and wish I could be with them everyday! Living away from home right now, I'm constantly seeing things that remind me of my girls and things that I automatically think "oh Sarah and Chayah would LOVE that!!" or "I want to go there with Sarah and Chayah!"... it's so hard to be away from them! I'm about 16 hours away from them right now, so it's not the easiest trip to make all the time :(   I am living with Chrissy (older sister) and her husband right now and am so incredibly blessed to be doing so! We have lots of fun times and I'm so glad I can be here to help however I can and at the same time keep working towards graduation (which technically would have been this spring... except I've suddenly decided that I don't quite want to be done yet and that I wanted more free time now, so the switch to being part-time this semester was made and graduation will likely be this winter. as of now, I think)... And quite possibly the most exciting part of being here? The very much anticipated and awaited impending arrival of a certain new little niece of mine. Yep. I'm gonna be an AUNT!!! Also. Sarah and Chayah are going to be aunts! How awesome?!?! So so excited!! Baby Charlotte should be here {literally} any day now. So be checking back for baby updates as well. I'm a proud big sister and now a proud auntie as well... gotta have lots and lots of pictures of the little girls in my life :)
Sarah and Chayah are doing great, from talking to them on the phone just this evening I heard the most important updates... such as Chayah made a snowman that she says will last "forever and ever, until you come home, and until the end of the world"... well, I kinda hope I get home again before "forever and ever" or the end of the world, but I do wish I could see your snowman, Chay! And such as that Sarah now has four webkinz... only the best toys with the most fun computer games ever, as Sarah has educated me on. They are so grown up... second grade! I remember being in second grade! And I don't feel like I felt that much different then as how I feel now. My girls are growing up! I'm so proud of them and miss them like crazy! As far as "official" updates go, Sarah was the most amazing little trooper and had her second cleft surgery in December! She was so brave and did great. I was thrilled to be able to be home for the whole month of December, first for the girls' school Christmas program, then Sarah's surgery, and then Christmas with the whole family... it was a wonderful time! And just in the past week, Chayah has gotten glasses! We found out that she had been having trouble being able to read the board at school.. her glasses are beyond adorable and I have loved getting some pictures of her in them sent to me by my parents (thank you mom and dad!!). Now it's time for pictures....

My grown up shopping girls looking so trendy at the mall!

Chayah in her new glasses! Soooo gorgeous, LOVE these glasses- super cute!!

Lots of snow! What I don't understand is, how can this be the weather they are having at the same time that I'm wearing a sundress and sandals and having perfect warm weather?! So crazy! I definitely don't miss the snow, but I miss those girls!!

 

December: After Sarah's surgery, still at the hospital... being wheeled around while recovering by a great helper (Chayah)

Christmas 2011: Princesses Belle and Aurora with their new puppies Cookie and Go Go :)

Show Hope!

My two gorgeous Show Hope girls!! Both home through grants from Show Hope (THANK YOU SHOW HOPE!!!) ....Chayah's picture is currently featured on Show Hope's website (as well as the newsletter she is holding in the picture... Sarah is holding an older edition of the "Miracles" book that her picture was featured in)  for their "Gifts of Hope"- gifts for the Christmas season that you can give to help connect an orphan with their forever family. Without grants like Show Hope's, many adoptions would be impossible, including ours that brought my two girlies home forever. Consider giving to Show Hope's Gifts of Hope this Christmas season (and take a look at my gorgeous Chayah's picture featured for a Forever Family for an Orphan in Asia!) here: https://secure2.convio.net/ccsh/site/Ecommerce?store_id=37702&VIEW_HOMEPAGE=true&FOLDER=0&TYPE&NAME

Fill their Stockings with Hope

This year, in just a few days actually, the Fill their Stockings with Hope this Christmas: 12 Days of Giveaways to Benefit Orphans in China will begin! What is it? A way to raise funds for orphans in China, give to them for them to be shown hope this Christmas, and to also have the possibility of winning the daily giveaway! To learn more about it, go HERE, click on the picture below, or on the link on the sidebar.